This is where we be.
Greetings.
Welcome to Visual PR Live.
It's actually officially Episode 2,
but it's a completely
different look and feel.
There's been a big gap
between Episode 1 and 2
because I've been focusing
on everyone else's shows,
as you can imagine,
rather than our own internal.
But we're going to go for it,
and it is a different format.
We're going to do a little
bit of a talk at the
beginning about Visual PR
and how you can get the most out
of the service we don't just
do the shows it's all of
the things you can do pre
and post production as well
and I've then got a very
special business guest and
a very special charity
guest on as well so let's
get episode two underway
so there we go all the
intros done and dusted for
for my side and I just want
to cover a couple of bits
and pieces that are going
to be helpful not just for
existing clients but for
future clients because
we're really designed to
make sure that the retainer
is is on board to get more
than just these live
episodes if you consider
podcasts with a video
element but going live
where we can get interaction
with any viewers with
comments and questions.
And please, anybody,
ask comments or questions
of me or the guests we've got coming up.
We've got John Lewis from JL
Mindset Performance.
He's the business guest.
And we've got Jeff Tucker from Best Mates.
Hashtag, we got you.
An amazing charity that I've
just started learning a lot more about.
And it's just really, really special.
So when they come up,
please ask any questions.
Now...
The quick title from the
visual PR side of things is to say, right,
it's more than just the show.
It's going to be great
content because we can
cover anything in it.
We can do news, announcements, how-tos,
instructional pieces, meet the team.
speaking to some of your customers, tours,
because these cameras can
be either in person,
webcams or even mobile
cameras touring around somewhere.
So there's a lot of
information that we can do,
but it's about what we do
wrapped all around it.
Now,
the idea is we schedule it from our
virtual studio to your platforms,
your YouTube channel, your Facebook page,
your LinkedIn pages.
And we then provide you with
the links that say,
here's the description of this episode.
Here's the guests that you've got on.
And here is the links to
share to people to be able to view it.
And that would be a week
before that it would push it out.
So Facebook, it will be an event.
So people can say they're
interested or they're going on Facebook.
So LinkedIn and YouTube,
it's pending lives so that
you'll be able to share those as well.
And the trick is, you know,
share it as much as you possibly can,
not just by sharing the event itself,
but there can be QR codes
or links and we can create
branded QR codes for you
that will take you to that episode.
in your written PR,
in your digital marketing efforts,
anything at all.
And you start getting people
to know next week we've got
this guest on and we're
covering this subject and
you create an anticipation.
So that's an idea of some of
the things to do beforehand
and try and get people to
have their questions and comments ready.
And it will just make it an
even better experience.
thing to be able to do.
By the way, talk about comments.
There we go.
Hi, Sophia.
Good to see you.
I interviewed Sophia on a
podcast last week as well
for somebody else.
So hi, Sophia.
Great to see you.
So your comments,
your questions can all come
up here as well.
But it's not just about the pre.
episode.
There's a lot that we can do
post episode as well, post production.
Now,
one of the big things we do is that we
create a number of clips.
I'm just going to play this
video just as an example.
I can always point the wrong direction.
There we go.
That way,
where we take the episode
and we create a number of
clips from them in three
different size formats.
As you'll see from this nine by 16,
16 by nine and one by one,
because all of our platforms,
they love it in different angles,
different sizes, don't they?
We create those for you.
half a dozen to a dozen clips,
20 to 90 seconds long, that sort of thing,
so that you've now finished
your episode and we've then
got another three weeks of
social media before we then
start promoting the next episode.
So you've got a whole load
of video collateral that is
created from that episode
to really give you,
because what's the hardest
thing I find with digital
marketing is coming up with content.
well,
the episode can create a lot of that
video content for you.
And don't forget,
not only is video content good in itself,
there's the whole SEO side of it.
So when we create the
description of the episode,
we're thinking of the SEO
because apparently YouTube
is the second largest
search engine in the world.
Second only to Google.
And of course,
Google put videos at the top
of your search results from YouTube.
So it makes sense that we do all of that.
You're then sharing with
descriptions as well on
your social media.
So you're getting a lot of traction,
a lot of interaction.
If you've seen how much more
interaction videos get over
just text or even images,
it's a worthwhile collateral to have.
um we can even put them as
YouTube shorts so if you're
putting a lot of effort
into your YouTube channel
these would go as live
episodes plus an evergreen
resource that is growing a
library for you of content
and guests but with these
clips you're also able to
create these YouTube shorts
as well let alone things
like TikTok kids are down
with that John Lewis I can
see him in the green room
there he's probably getting
down with TikTok yeah
Geoff,
you knew John would be on for that one,
wouldn't you?
He'd be all over TikTok.
He's a superstar there.
But you've also able to
encourage more people to be
guests on your shows when
they see how it works.
And even if I'm not doing the presenting,
because quite often people
like that they're not being
thrust in front of a camera
with a script.
I'm actually interviewing
them and I do it professionally.
I'm a professional
motorsports commentator and
things like that,
as people who know me know.
And it makes them relaxed.
It makes it a more natural
conversational piece.
But I don't have to be the interviewer.
I can be the producer in the background.
And sometimes we have our
client has someone that is
going to be the interviewer
and they're interviewing
other guests along.
That's fine.
And what you're doing is
you're making people say, hey,
this is a good thing to be doing.
and I want to be a guest on
that as well and so you're
growing that for you we can
also strip the audio out
from this and make it a
podcast for you so an audio
only podcast which are very
popular these days but it
means that they can either
view it or just listen to
it and it's all from the
same show the same
interview they're able to
do all of the above we can
also transcribe the whole show
including who has been
saying what and there you
go there's a blog post for
you to put on your website
or wherever it might go
whilst embedding the video
for you as well it's all
there it's been created for
you uh or you could just
use that transcription for
for seo and then of course
the final piece before I
start bringing my guests
out from my side is that I
mentioned earlier about
these qr codes fully
branded with your logo on
it and everything
that takes people to that episode.
You suddenly do an article
in a journal or a press
release or whatever it might be.
Who's to say you don't throw
this QR code at the bottom of that?
So someone sat in a
reception reading this journal.
They're enthralled by it.
You can only go so far in
those words and you never know.
Have they read it all?
Have they read it in the
tone and emotion that I wanted them to?
now you've got this here
they're sat there with
their phone next to them
click this qr code and you
can watch this interview in
full bang they click that
they're now watching on
their youtube on their
phone the full interview
with the emotion with the
humor if I have anything to
do with it um you know the
the personable side of it
and so you're actually
spreading add to that by
the way you're now starting
to get stats that will be
able to show you how many
people have watched that video
Therefore,
and we can say that they've
clicked from that
particular journal and you
start getting stats from
written PR as well as your online media.
So there's a lot of things
that we do before a show, after a show,
as well as during that show.
And it is about that full service.
And it really pays.
We can do everything.
All of that for you if you wanted to,
or we can just be providing
you with a collateral to
enable you to do an awful
lot more with your digital
marketing and your PR.
Visual PR sits between PR and marketing,
feeding from and to both of them.
That's the kind of the idea of it.
So hopefully that's going to
help you make sure you get
the absolute maximum out of
your efforts with this and
feel a lot more relaxed
where you are being
interviewed rather than
thrust in front of a camera.
And as I said earlier,
I do like to try and have
as much fun as we possibly can.
So that's the tip from Visual PR.
That's part one.
That means I'm now going to
move on to part two and I'm
going to bring on our business guest.
John Lewis.
Hello, my friend.
Mr. Dawes, how are you, sir?
I'm doing well, mate.
It's so good to see you on.
John Lewis from JL Mindset Performance,
no less.
Tis me, Chris.
Tis me.
I enjoy kind of being in the green room,
although it's not very
green here in my mum's
cubbyhole in Bassett,
looking at all the
brilliant things that you do, mate,
and everything visual PR offers.
So if you can airbrush this head out,
and if you can make me sound different...
We're all on that, mate.
We're all fine.
But listen,
you and I have known each other
for quite a few years,
actually a lot of years,
because I can't remember
whether JL Mindset
Performance existed when I first knew you,
when you were collecting
parcels and things like that,
or whether that was just
helping you build up to it.
I can't remember.
Yeah, I mean, well, actually,
you were in Bassett, Chris.
Correct.
We're in Bassett now,
and you were over the top here by...
uh yeah yeah big computers
I've I was a delivery man
at the time um so we're
probably going back 10
years something like that
probably more than that now
mate I gotta be honest
there's every chance it was
longer ago than that but
it's it's great to see I
mean give us a a synopsis
first of all we'll start
then go into a bit more
detail what is jl mindset performance
Wow, what is JL Mindset Performance?
JL Mindset Performance is me
as a trained person who
helps people overcome the obstacles,
whether that's in their life,
whether that's in their business,
whether that's in sport.
It's all around mindset and
helping people think in a
different way that enables
them to feel a different way,
to enable them to perform a
different way.
And again, it crosses all boundaries, mate,
because, you know, people...
want to achieve things personally,
professionally.
And I get, you know,
I have the pleasure of
doing it every single day, Chris,
have the pleasure of doing
it every single day.
And there's several things I
want to pick up on there.
The first one is that you
say you're trained and it's
important to pick up on
that because we're in a
world where there's a lot of coaches,
life coaches and things like that.
That means that not
everybody is trained and certified.
And I know you spend a lot
of time going and getting
training yourself, don't you?
I do, mate.
I think it's important when
you're working person-centred,
so you're working with people on a mental,
physical and emotional level,
it's only right ethically
and morally that you are
doing things the correct way
so you know you're doing
things for for the good
rather than just doing it
to create a business you
know opening up a book and
saying that's it I'm I'm a
life coach which can be
done it's it's it's not
accredited sorry it's not a
um regulated industry yeah
and for me chris I want to
give the best to to my
clients knowing I'm doing
things morally the right way
you know things change all
the time you know different
techniques and tools to use
with people so why would I
not want to invest in my
own development so I can
offer people the best in
their own personal and
professional development
well that sounded quite
good Chris didn't it was
that right no 100
absolutely and I enjoy that
I like that because it is
it's one of those things
that definitely stood out
for me where I've spoken to
you over the time is all the
the accreditation and the
training that you get and
that you're able to then pass that on.
And we're going to,
when we get towards the
tail end of the interview
with you is that we're
going to try and leave
people with a couple of
little nuggets of some description.
I have no idea what they are.
I put the pressure on you.
But, you know,
I love the fact that your
client base is so varied from, you know,
just personal individuals
that have got some kind of
blocks or challenges.
And, you know,
we've gone through a tough
time since 2000, sorry,
2020 with the pandemic in particular,
that hurt a lot of people.
And, you know,
we've had a lot of
challenges to overcome.
So as individuals, there are,
businesses as well as business people,
because you actually go and
train groups as well as individuals.
And some of the most
enthralling is sports
people that are already
even achieving flying things,
but not getting the mental, you know,
mindset support.
And you come in at that
stage with all of that
repertoire of clients.
I do.
And, you know, and again,
I'd like to think that, you know,
I think as we go through
the age and just what you're saying there,
Chris, you know, 2020 things change.
And I think a lot of people
since then are more
self-aware of their own
health and well-being and whatnot.
You know, even psychology.
I'm not a sports psychologist.
You know, I use NLP, which is, again,
fantastic tools and
techniques to use in sport.
But, you know,
even the notion of sports
psychology is still new.
You know, it's still a newish term.
It's still a newish thing that people,
you know, get or believe in,
if I can use that.
Because, again, even in sport,
it was always you play sport.
You know, and that was it.
Whereas, you know, again, as time goes on,
you know,
you need to understand it's not
the athlete that plays sport.
It's the person that plays sport with head,
emotion and obviously the
physical aspect.
And when you can align all three, you know,
chances are you'll get
yourself in the best
position to go on and perform your best.
And again,
that's why it crosses all
boundaries because, you know,
you and I are humans, Chris.
Well, kind of.
You're more human than I am.
We know what it's like.
The better we feel in ourselves,
then the better we naturally perform.
It doesn't always mean we
get the greatest results and whatnot,
but we give ourselves the best chance.
We give ourselves the best chance.
It's like a jigsaw puzzle, isn't it?
You know,
it's like find someone as
potentially born with with a talent.
And I think there's a big
element of that for those
that go to the absolute tops.
They still need to train to
hone their skills and use
it in the best possible way.
And, you know,
all the other bits that come with it.
But then you've got
nutritionists that get involved.
I provide media training for
sports people because they
need to interact with media
and sponsors and supporters
and things like that.
Otherwise,
they can still fall by the
wayside and not achieve
their full potential.
So yours is probably the
most obvious in my mind of all of them.
I used to be a national
level swimmer before I
found beer and everything else like that.
And and it could be, you know,
there are certain events
that I would just excel at.
And it would be because I
turned up in the right frame of mind.
And then others where my my
parents would be like
pulling their hair out
because I just didn't rock
up with the right mindset.
And it would make a big
difference to what I
achieved in that competition.
A hundred percent.
Yeah.
And like I say,
you kind of hear about it
more and more now.
And I guess it's because
people are more open to
talking about actually how
they're feeling.
And, you know,
and now we've got this whole link of,
you know, the mind and body are one.
Whereas for a long period of time,
it was OK,
the mind is separate to the body.
But it's not, you know, we know.
And again,
everything you're mentioning there, Chris,
around nutrition and everything else,
you know,
there's a whole science now
behind nutrition.
playing a sport, you know,
the science is always there, Chris,
but we weren't kind of
pulling it apart in its
little entirety is to think, okay,
if we can gain a little
percentage advantage here, you know,
what the difference will that make?
You know,
if we can gain an advantage here
with your nutrition,
what difference will that make?
You know,
and I think the more that we can
pick apart all these
different elements that no,
will either hinder or excel
someone's performance, you know,
then we can kind of get
better clues into what we
can best do to enable
somebody to go on and
perform their best in
whatever arena it is.
And, you know, for multiple things,
I'm sure this is now.
I put it up earlier.
Sophia said I could not agree more, John.
And that was just one of the
early comments is that she agreed.
And I do.
It just sort of resonates
with me dramatically.
And what I love is that
whilst sport is possibly
the easiest one for us to
understand where that
mindset could come in, it applies...
in our everyday life and in
particular within organized, you know,
businesses.
And that's why, whether it's sort of,
you know, solopreneurs or whatever,
trying to make their businesses a success,
but equally you get taken
on by commercial
organizations to go in and
train all of their people because they,
they know whether it's,
I guess the extreme is, is meant,
was it mental health first aid?
Yeah,
I train mental health first aid as well,
yeah.
Train mental health.
Which is different to what
we're talking about now in a way,
but it's all sort of interlinked,
isn't it?
It's about how our mind is.
But you help the performance
in business as well as in sport.
Yeah.
And again, that's something, Chris, that,
you know,
when I trained to become a coach,
it was never I want to do it, you know,
in business, in life, in sport.
It just seems it's the way
my business is developed that it's,
you know, again,
I'm very proud that
businesses kind of take me
in and trust me to work
with with the teams, because, again,
naturally, the way we work.
thing we all have blockages
chris and we don't always
get the results we want but
um you know to be able to
go into to a business and
and work with with
individuals you know again
around the mindset around
kind of aligning their
beliefs with the business's
beliefs etc uh you know
then the best chance we
then have of the business
performing at its best
because the people within
the business are
will perform at their best
and also they will feel
valued by the business so
then it then has more of
you know mental health etc
um you know and that's
that's what we want and
again you know without
putting too much back on
2020 which ironically
you know four years ago this
weekend was probably the
first kind of lockdown you
know I think businesses now
have realized not all
businesses because some
were good at doing it
anyway chris but the
importance of its people
the people in your business
are the most you know get
the people right and like I
say the business will excel
and if you can work with
those people within the
business rather than just
leaving things to chance
yes grab things of course and not
happens to you is it because
it's what you're creating
or are you living your life
based on what's happening
I agree.
And another mutual friend of ours,
Rachel Weaven.
Hi, Rachel.
She says, invested in you, John,
to help their people will
improve their productivity.
And that's exactly what you
were just saying there.
It really will, the success.
And you don't just take them
on and press go.
And let's be honest,
is that there's no strong person,
weak person.
That's a myth.
That doesn't exist.
Life
dare I say, gets in the way, you know,
things happen that can come
out of the blue and create
a blockage of some description,
let alone for you to then
take it even higher where you kind of go,
well, you're doing well,
could you do even better?
And, you know,
you're able to sort of take
those skills even further.
It must be so rewarding as
well as emotional at times as well,
I'd imagine.
It is, Chris, yeah, you know,
Again,
nothing is more satisfying for me
than knowing somebody has
achieved something they
want to achieve or they're
happy or I've played a part.
I don't see myself as the whole picture.
I've played a part in
helping that person maybe
believe in their self more
or maybe achieve something
they never thought they
were capable of doing.
I'm very privileged and honoured.
to do that Chris you know
that said I'm still a human
being myself and I still
have these feelings and
these thoughts and these
emotions and blockages and
whatnot you know and again
it's having having a
self-awareness and that's
what I personally believe
it comes to having a
self-awareness of self
obviously hence the
self-awareness and you know
stacking on what you are
already doing but knowing
you know we nine times out
of ten we limit ourselves
we limit ourselves
Yeah, no, I agree in that completely.
Where did this come from then?
What happened in John
Lewis's life to lead to JL
Mindset Performance?
Well, how long have you got, Chris?
As long as we need to, definitely.
Short and curlers of it, mate.
Can I say short and curlers?
That's not swearing, is it?
Well, it depends.
People overthink it.
If people overthink it, they might be.
Okay.
So for me, again, you know, just naturally,
I've always loved working with people,
Chris.
I've always had an interest in people.
I've always wanted to help people,
support people.
You know, back in the school days,
I would want to help people, you know,
I always stood up to
bullies and you know yourself,
I'm not the tallest guy, but you know,
I always, from a young age,
I always believed that
everybody should be capable
of doing what they want on this planet.
We've all been given this
gift and that is life to start with.
And so, so, you know,
I always had a natural
empathy with people and
understanding of people and
always found it easy to,
kind of get on with people
always found it easy to
build rapport with people.
And I feel that is something
that naturally was
ingrained in me that when I, again,
I didn't choose to do what I do.
I believe it kind of was a
natural progression that
when it came to like,
even a crossroad in my life,
there's me doing a cross.
Yeah.
When it came to a crossroads for me,
because, again,
this ties into what we said at the start,
Chris, when I was a delivery driver.
You know, dad, two beautiful children,
a beautiful wife, mortgage bills.
You know, I needed to work, you know,
support my family as we go.
It got to to a point where, you know,
it came back to me.
OK, what do I want to do with my life?
I don't want to drive a van all my life,
you know, so.
then did some research on on
you know I knew what I was
going to do would be
person-centered and I just
feel I just I just knew was
that was that the answer
you were looking for chris
have I just gone on 20
minutes and you were just no no no
No, no, no.
Keep going.
But it's like I got that is
that you were then looking.
I mean,
I didn't know the story that it was.
I kind of suspected it was
the case that you were
doing that means to an end.
And I wasn't sure where the
jail mindset had already started.
And this was just but it was
a side hustle at that stage or whether.
No, you it sounds like you actually said,
right, I'm not happy.
I now need to do something.
And that's where it became.
I'm doing something person centered.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I don't think I was ever unhappy.
You never seemed it, I'll be honest.
Yeah, you should see me in the green room,
Chris, crying my eyes out.
You know,
but it was just I knew I wanted more.
And I thought, gee, you know, by then,
probably eight years ago,
I was doing the maths thinking, right,
if I work until 66, I was...
38 back then, that leaves me 36 years.
Okay.
I want to go through the
rest of my life doing
something that I want to do.
You know, I made that choice.
And again,
it's great me doing all these
things and supporting other people,
but very aware in the South
that I want to create my
future for myself.
And it didn't happen overnight.
It's still a work in progress.
You know, as,
as we said in the green screen, you know,
we're in business.
This is not always easy as
challenges and whatnot,
but the vision has always been clear.
The vision has always been clear.
Yeah.
And I'm very,
very proud that I'm achieving my own
goals as I go knowing
there's still more things
along the way knowing
there's still going to be
hurdles in the way but
again it's not what happens
it's how you respond to it
Chris and I feel if we kind
of respond to things in a
way that that you know
keeps us on our journey
then that's that's half the
battle there Chris because
it's it's a mindset of
never say die believe in
myself and what I'm doing
um and yeah you know the
evidence is there Chris
that the business is is
going well and every day I
wake up with an
pleasure in in doing what I
set out to do what does the
future hold for jay on mindset
oh good good question coach
good question good question
and here's the irony of it
I've never been really big
you know like as a coach
and people always think
when you're with a coach
you can say what's your big
goals what's your big
dreams etc you know I've
never had big goals and big
dreams it was more like a
feeling it was like a
natural feeling to to to
you know very kinesthetic if
you if you know what that
means you know so I i go
more on feel than than what
I see and for me like I say
chris for me and I said
this on someone's podcast
last week for me success
isn't having a car on the
drive you know a big car on
the drive or having a yacht
in I don't know lech laid
there you go that's how big
my mindset works
You sound American there.
There's no borders outside of Wiltshire.
Exactly.
Who are my friend?
Who are?
You know, for me, it's just waking up,
feeling like I'm making a
difference and doing that
on a grander scale than
what I'm currently doing, Chris,
you know.
My kids are getting older.
It's nice now to watch them
kind of flourishing in their lives.
You know, so for me, it's it's, you know,
to answer your question,
the future just holds me
steadily doing what I'm doing, Chris.
I feel I feel like I'm on the right path.
I feel like I'm on the right path.
So Rachel's wrong.
She said world domination.
So she's not right.
Oh, Rachel, world domination.
You've asked that as a question,
like world domination.
Like I should be, hmm, world domination.
It's like pinky in the brain.
Do you remember that animation?
Do you know what?
I would just like to dominate Highworth.
You'll be happy then.
You'll be happy.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Can you give us, the viewers,
a piece of advice or two
that is a useful thing to
be able to take away in
what is a challenging world
and climate that we live in?
Okay.
Don't watch the news.
There you go.
There's one.
I'd agree with that.
Yeah.
I agree.
I actually have done the
occasional one where I've
just turned every all
notifications from the news
apps and everything and not watched it.
And it made a world of difference.
Yeah.
And I also think, you know,
keeping it on a kind of
business stroke life theme, you know,
if we if we kind of get out
of this mindset.
And again, I see it with a lot of people.
They won't start something
because they're too scared to fail.
Yes.
They don't start in the first place.
And I've always been a believer that,
you know, there is no failure,
only feedback.
Now,
if you're going with that kind of
mindset of, okay, you know,
this might work, this might not,
but if I get the feedback and move on,
then I can come out the
other side and do things in
a different way with new evidence,
you know, with new ways of doing things.
And for me, that's kind of been...
game-changing it's been
game-changing because I
think it always comes also
just just on that you know
because it comes back to
confidence in in respects
and the reason I say that
is because it was a
conversation I had with
someone the other day when
I told them this and they
said yeah but I'm not
confident enough to to to kind of do that
I'm like,
what you need to be confident in
is confident that it might go right.
It might go wrong.
That's confidence.
You know, confidence is thinking, OK,
I can do this and
everything's going to be grand and rose.
You know,
people who know me know I make
things up on the spot.
I'm confident to know that it might work.
It might not.
But I'll take the feedback and go again.
And that helps drive me on.
I've got one that is in the
same vein as that is that I have a rule,
never have a what if.
I would rather give
something a go and heaven
forbid find it doesn't work
or doesn't work how I intended it to.
And no, they'll never go for it and go,
what if I had done that?
I mean, my commentary,
my motorsports commentary, I'm so lucky.
I get paid to travel the UK and Europe and,
you know,
pretty much every weekend
between March and November
commentating on motorsport.
And this came from a
five-year-old boy that used
to sit on the spectator
banks at Castle Combe with
my dad and fell in love with racing.
And suddenly I'm doing that.
And it all came from...
I would rather go for it, apply for it,
and not get the opportunity
than bottling out,
because I nearly didn't.
My wife had to sort of change,
remind me this rule of
never have a what if,
because I was about to go,
that's what other people
are lucky enough to do, not me.
But she said, hang on,
if we're sat up in a
spectator bank listening to
a new commentator, how will you feel?
And I'll go, oh,
I wonder if I'd have got it
if I had gone for it.
And this is just how I live
my life is that give it a go.
and find the answers grow
from it learn from it
rather than than say no
just in case I know so I
I'm with you on that one
and rachel says great tip
guys uh tips guys love the
feedback not failure and
the what if absolutely I i
agree uh thank you for that
rachel and sophia says
confidence is having the
courage to try and not
being afraid if it doesn't go to plan
Yes, I agree.
And I find that it's quite
often not two dimensional
of success or failure.
What we have in our head is
that this is what I'm going
to do and this is how it's going to be.
It doesn't always go that way,
but you suddenly could be
doing things even better
than you imagined because
it opens up doors that you
hadn't considered before,
but you would never know it.
I do it with my public
speaking training is that
if you don't go and take
those opportunities to
speak in front of people
and let people know what you know,
what you're good at,
what you're passionate about,
The only thing you can be
sure of is that you will
never open those doors that
you could have done by being heard.
Yeah.
Put yourself in there.
So I love that one, John.
That makes so much sense to me.
Thank you.
Is there anything that I
haven't asked or got you to
say that you'd like to on
JL Mindset Performance,
other than the fact I put this up,
jlmindsetperformance.co.uk?
Ta-da!
You're loving this, aren't you, John?
This is like the best day of my life,
Chris.
I'm very easily pleased.
See, the yacht in Lettslade and this.
And this, yeah.
It's the dream you didn't know you had.
There you go.
Cheers, coach.
Anything that you'd like to
say that I haven't asked
you or got you to say yet
about it for the viewers?
No, nothing.
I mean, my website is up there.
If you want to take a look
and see if anything there
you feel relates to you, yourself,
your sport, your business or anyone else,
you know,
because I cross a lot of
boundaries between, like we said, sport,
life, business, you know,
mental health first aid,
delivering workshops on confidence,
belief.
You know, there's a lot.
There's a lot I feel I can offer.
You know, I work hard to do it.
So we've just left to have a
conversation with somebody
who feels as though they
would benefit from jail
mindset performance.
absolutely uh which rachel
said more like a dinghy
boat to your uh to your
yacht in lech laid so uh
can we can we like get
people can you like kick
people off of sending
messages I can I can love
you yeah well john thank
you so much for that
insight it's been really
useful don't go anywhere
everybody because we've got
something that is very close to
your heart and before we
introduce them uh let me
just quickly check because
uh I love it see she's
she's regained us now
hasn't she probably it
probably is um but we
before we bring out the the
next guest and as as we've
explained this the whole
idea of this charity
spotlight we're about to do is that
There are a lot of charities
about and we don't always
necessarily understand or
appreciate what it is that
they do and why they do it.
It's not just about sort of
like shaking the can and
putting money into the pocket.
It's not always money they need.
There is an objective
they're trying to go and
there are multiple ways
that they can achieve that objective.
And so I want to do in every
episode a charity spotlight
where that charity in
question is going to come
on and explain what it is they do,
why they do it,
what's the background to it
and how they do it.
And we're then shining a
spotlight on that charity
so that we can understand
more about what is around us.
So before I do this, Sophia says, awesome.
Bless you, Sophia.
Thank you for that.
Um, on, on that one,
before we introduce and
don't give necessarily all of it away,
but what made you a
recommend that we got this
next person on as,
as the charity guest and
why you've teamed up with, uh,
with best mates.
Well for me personally the
reason I've teamed up with
Best Mates is purely
because I absolutely love
what they do and you know
in a lot of respects
there's a lot of synergy in
what I do and what Best Mates do.
Actually it was Rachel I
think that first introduced
me and Jeff to each other
when I first sat down with
Jeff and a couple of the
other guys I know who are
within the charity you know it was a
No brainer.
It was an absolute no brainer.
They're doing amazing work.
They're just at the start of the journey.
And again,
I can't wait to see how this
charity excels and the
brilliant work that it's
doing and the even bigger
and brighter and better
work it's naturally going to do.
Absolutely.
Well,
I think we need to get the main man out.
It's Jeff Tucker from Best Bates.
We're going to kick in to
our charity spotlight.
Alone, we can do so little,
but together we can do so much.
Visual PR's charity
spotlight is about shining
a light on the amazing work
and objectives of charities,
as they do not do it for publicity,
but it is important that we
know about them.
what they do and understand
why charity is not just
about making a donation it
is about making a
difference well so without
further ado jeff tucker
welcome my friend thank you
so much for joining us how are you
Very good.
Thank you.
Very interesting.
Listen to John there.
Yeah, but we love him for it.
That's the main thing.
You know, your words,
your kind words just a minute ago,
John was, you know, it's fantastic, mate.
You're great that we've got
you on board and you
understand what we're
trying to do in someone.
So if we can get that across
today and share that passion,
then that's what we're here to do.
So thanks for having me on.
No, appreciate that, Jeff.
And obviously,
you're in the boardroom of
your original responsibility,
and that is track employment.
That's right, isn't it?
Track employment solutions, yeah.
We're a 17-year-old
recruitment business based in Swindon.
So changing people's lives
by finding them jobs effectively.
So this is now,
we're obviously focusing
today on the charity Best
Mates with the hashtag We Got Ya.
It's very new, isn't it?
Am I right in saying that?
Very new, yeah.
We started the concept,
the idea sort of kicked in back in 2022.
Carl, my business partner,
he ran the marathon
and with things going on in
the background.
So the idea and the concept
was back in 2022,
sort of started things
moving around about November 22,
and then we went live with
charity status as of November 23.
So yeah,
as in charity status and actually
going live, very new.
But in the background,
lots of bits and pieces
have been sort of building us, you know,
as we get to this stage.
I love that.
That's really cool.
Well,
for the people that hadn't heard of it,
and I'll be honest with you, Jeff,
that included me until John
said about it.
Not surprising with those
dates you've just said.
We're not even at six months old yet.
So speak to us.
What's the synopsis of what Best Mates is?
Because from what I read,
it's very different to what
we see elsewhere.
Okay, cool.
Well, I might wrap it on a bit here.
So just feel free to jump in.
So effectively...
There was a time,
so I went back there with
Carl run the marathon and
some thought process going through.
But back in 2020,
my son went through a tough
period where he actually
got attacked by some lads
and he went through a
really tough time that he
didn't know where to turn.
Depression and really sort
of hit a spot where me as a dad,
I didn't know where to turn.
I didn't know who to speak to.
I got to a point where I
didn't even know how to
talk to my own son.
You know,
it was just remember at that time
when I just stood at the
patio doors looking out crying, thinking,
what am I going to do?
How am I going to help you?
And it dawned on me over
over a period of time that, you know,
some people hit a period
where they need somebody to help them.
You need to be able to reach out.
You said earlier that
there's hundreds and
hundreds of charities out
there that do this, that, the other.
We don't always necessarily
know what they tend to do.
It kind of dawned on me that
there wasn't a support
charity group out there
that you could reach out to
and find your way through a
crap period of time.
You might be
what if you go through
depression it could be
grief addiction
unemployment and so on and
some people you just don't
know and you wriggle your
way through it um and john
will probably tell you you
know that you end up
talking to some people and
they just need that guide
so effectively what
happened was the thought
process was going on in the
back of my head about what
can I do how can this work
now this sounds really this
is a bit ridiculous but I
was on a golf trip
with a load of lads.
A few customers, never met them before,
but one of my best mates came along.
I hadn't seen him for about a year,
so he came on this trip with us.
And when we got on the trip,
I introduced him as my best mate Steve.
I said, hello guys,
this is best mate Steve.
Every single person through
that gold trip started calling each other,
best mate Jeff, best mate Steve,
best mate Ian, best mate pal,
best mate this, best mate that.
And it was just a joke
through the whole weekend.
But
Do you know what it did?
It built a camaraderie ship amongst those,
I think it was probably about 22 people,
and we just had such a
laugh and a connection that
it got me thinking, hang on a minute,
that word best mate,
it just breaks any walls down.
It breaks anything down that
sort of gets in the way of
you talking to.
So effectively what then
happened was the concept came out of,
Best Mates basically works
as if you're going through
a certain issue and you
don't know where to turn,
you'll reach out to us.
And what we do is we recruit
what we call mates.
Now those mates are people
which have all been through
their own individual circumstances,
might be continuing to go through it,
but they've come out the other end,
they've seen the light,
they're getting better and
they're on track for a
better life and they fix themselves.
So take yourself with your
problem and I put you with
somebody that's been
through exactly the same situation.
You're then talking to
somebody that can
completely relate to your situation.
Absolutely not advised
because we're not
counsellors or anything like that.
But if you if you were
talking to me about that
situation and I could really say, listen,
this is where I was at.
This is how I got to where I got to.
You're not talking to your mum, your dad,
your brother,
your sister or whatever that might be,
who will say what they need to say.
You're talking to somebody
that will just go, I can really,
really resonate what your situation is.
And then basically, simple as that,
the charity will then step
in and either signpost to
the service you need,
or supporting that service
and just help us to help
you change your life to get
it back on track where it needs to be.
So it's as simple as that.
You come forward with a problem,
we match you with a best
mate or a mate as we call them,
and then the charity backs that up.
So I like that.
So you are, first of all, giving that...
feeling of or get rid of the
feeling of thinking that
you're alone you know I'm
picturing you at the back
door where you're going I
don't have the answers and
this is we all have these
moments don't we go damn it
I don't have all the answers
And we just bumble along thinking we do.
I know all I need to know
and I'm getting on with it.
And you said, no, I don't.
I can definitely relate to
yours because as a parent,
you're there kind of going,
I'm supposed to be looking
after and I can't do that.
That was your particular one there.
And it's like, I'm alone.
So first of all,
this removes that element.
Secondly,
it's given a person that you can
open up and speak to that
doesn't have a bias.
You said it's not a mum, a dad, a brother,
a partner or anything.
With the best intentions,
they're still going to have a bias.
Sometimes you just need that peeled away.
Get rid of all of that and
just be someone who's going
to even slap me around the
back of the head if I needed it.
100%.
Yeah.
Which is what, equally, by the way,
I've only just realised
where your nameplate, Best Mate Jeff,
I now get why it says Best Mate Jeff.
Very important.
I do like that.
I didn't get that earlier,
but after that story, I get it.
But the follow-up is that you can,
if required,
you're then able to signpost
them to the best source of support,
et cetera.
And also to support that if
the need's there as well.
I think the next stage on
from that scenario, effectively,
is one of the biggest
things that we hang our hat
on is there are some
fantastic charities where
you go and signpost
you donate and it sort of
goes into the research part over here.
And, and, you know,
in terms of finding
remedies and fixing and cures for stuff,
the money kind of disappears into the,
into the pot to make that happen.
So, but what we tend to do is we, we,
we aim to, it's the wrong side of it.
It's like put it where it's needed.
Effectively.
So for example,
we had a lad come forward to us.
He was working on a building site.
He unfortunately fell down
two flights of stairs, ladders,
should I say, broke his back.
came forward he didn't have
any um any sort of um
salary cover or anything
like that so he came
forward to us to say look
is there anything you can
do to help me out we're
going to be out for a good
six months um spoke to us
we went out to see him had
a good conversation and so
on so we ended up paying
his mortgage for the last
six months and paying his shopping bill
So we're talking actually
where it's needed.
You know,
this guy is now back on his feet.
He's now getting back into work.
We've helped him and his
family get back where they need to be.
Now,
this guy is a great lad and we haven't
done it for this reason.
He's a fundraiser as well.
But he he he will he will
bring back to us in terms
of being a mate.
and offering services out to
anybody else that goes
through something similar.
He will bring that back over
and over and over and over again to us.
But the key thing here is
we've gone into that person,
we've figured out that
there's a problem here,
and without that support,
his last six months would
have been pretty much
Well, I don't know.
I don't know where his
mental health would have gone.
I don't know where his mindset would have.
Do you know what I mean?
I mean,
that's just like one particular
thing we've done.
We had somebody come forward
that needed a CT scan
because her husband fell off a wall,
smashed his head and had a
fear and lost his lorry driver,
lost his license,
couldn't afford to get a CT scan.
So we paid for the CT scan to happen.
We've put people,
we put a group of lads
through boxing school who
all suffered from sort of
ADHD and other issues out in Wantage.
You know,
we put these lads through summer
camp effectively.
So every day they went to
something that gave the
parents a level of a break.
And it also gave the lads some, you know,
stimulation, some, you know,
some just good feedback and
good experiences.
So it can be anything,
but the key thing there is
it's where it's needed,
not where it should go.
And instantly it's straight to the source,
isn't it?
And that's a key one.
I mean,
that was picking up on one of the
things that was blowing my
mind when I looked at the
website ahead of this
discussion is that
obviously we started with
the more obvious side that
was where you are that mate to chat with,
that mate to, you know,
give the clip around the head,
which I love that Rachel
Weaven said that she can do that.
That's why you're mine and John's mate,
Rachel.
Yeah.
That's why she is a good friend,
because we know she would.
But it is also the fact that,
you just used examples,
paid the mortgage for that period,
paid for a CT scan,
is that you do that mate
that sort of like helps out,
puts a hand in the pocket.
Now, how does that work?
I don't know how much you're able to say,
but how does the mechanics
of that work for people to
understand best mate
support in that way as well?
Well, I suppose it's quite difficult
take every case as an
individual case you know
people do reach out and we
have to look at what the
scenarios are what the
situations are stuff so
obviously we've got the
board of trustees and so on
so you know people come
forward we speak to the
trustees there's some stuff
going on in the background
now which gives us certain
parameters of who who who
is legible for and so on so
we're just working those
out to be a little bit you
know try to be as
there's lots of legislation
about running a chair and
you've got to make sure
you're doing things correctly.
So those things are all
being put in place.
We've got CRM systems going
in and stuff to help us achieve that.
But I think at the end of the day,
so if we go back to what the concept is,
which is we will hook you
up with somebody that's
gone through a similar situation.
We've had,
Probably, I mean, we're only young,
but probably five to six
different people that have
simply spoken to a mate and
they haven't needed
anything else but that.
Yeah.
So we go back to don't suffer in silence.
Reach out, speak, talk to somebody.
You know, men, we're terrible.
This isn't just a male charity.
This is for absolutely everyone.
Lots of people suffer.
The workplace.
We work in recruitment.
You go into the works and
there's people suffering
different areas of different things.
Sometimes they don't want to
talk to their HR manager.
Sometimes they just need
something to reach out to.
But the key thing there is, for me,
what BestMakes is all about,
it's that connection to
speak to somebody.
I'm going through this.
I'm going to ring John
because he knows damn well
what I'm going through.
we're gonna have a little
bit of support from there
and it helps but like I say
you know some people some
people have those
conversations and they're
like their mindset changes
their attitude towards it
changes there hang on a
minute he's got through
there by just doing that if
I just put that in place
and people go away and they
get it you know and it's
it's fantastic but then of
course the key thing is is
the signposting if it's needed
Which more and more,
and I'll come to John in a second,
but first of all, sticking with you,
Geoff,
and you did open it up by saying this,
listening to John's part of the interview,
is that the synergy between
the two of you is so obvious, isn't it,
in all honesty?
100%, you know,
one of the other things we do.
So we go along in life as
best mates and we're
recruiting mates all the time,
people which have got their
experiences as its own
challenges because people
have to want to come forward for that.
But, of course,
we also need those service partners,
those service providers
that meet everything that we do.
And when I met with John, you know,
and started explaining what we were about,
what we were trying to achieve, you know,
I think...
I still get goose pimples
now talking about it.
We're a few months in of this thing,
and it resonates with so many people.
You start talking.
I mean, I've been in rooms,
networking rooms and stuff,
and I've had people turn up
just to talk to me.
and start opening up about
what their issues are.
And I'm like, right, hang on a minute.
Cause I'm not that right person.
I need to put you with said person.
Do you know what I mean?
But it just starts to unravels and it's,
it's just, we all know, you know,
not just mental health,
lots of stuff going on there.
People are not talking.
We all know that it's a big, big thing.
And now myself, Carl and Ian,
who are all the best mates,
we sit there and on a daily basis,
it sounds awful,
we talk to people which
have got problems.
But if we can change one
person's life at a time and
we can make one person
better every single time,
then we're doing what we set out to do.
And that's literally to
change people's lives and
try to fix them.
Yeah,
and some of those can be practical or
physical things, can't it?
I mean,
I remember I went through a bad
time financially,
and this is just one that
springs to mind as a practical example,
is that because I went
through that experience of
trying to deal with it in
my head and the enormity of
it as one big mush, but when I then went,
right,
I've got to get this down on a
spreadsheet and work out everything,
that's there and by when and
what can be done with each
one suddenly you're there
and go actually there is a
way out of this it now
makes a lot more sense and
and it's so easy to say
that but when you're in the
middle of that hell and you
can't sleep it's it's
making you sweat it's
making you not eat properly
it's you know or drink too
much whatever it might be
because you've got this big
mess in your head it was
that piece of advice that
someone gave me and I've
given to others since
is that the power of a
spreadsheet in that one to
just break everything down is a big one.
And actually,
I would say that's led on to
other things further down the line,
is that when there's been
other things that have
become a mess of what to me
I think is one big problem, if you can go,
you know,
what's the app that you can meditate to?
Mind...
Yeah, yeah.
I forgot what it's called now.
I'll have a look in a minute
to remind myself.
But one of the big ones that
that taught me was to break
down each of the individual
things that are worrying
you or troubling you.
And you suddenly go, oh, actually, right,
that I can't do anything about.
That I can do this and it will change it.
That isn't as bad as it feels,
just feels that way because
of everything else that sat there.
And that was, again,
just some piece of advice.
So there's some very
practical things that can be done as well,
isn't there?
My wife is watching, and my wife,
thank you, Claire, has said headspace.
That's the one.
Rachel's put another good one on.
Calm is another one.
Yeah.
So I think you just saying that, Chris,
is your perfect example there.
If ever you wanted to come
forward to be a mate,
And you wanted to say, listen,
I went for a financial
thing and I'm happy to speak to people.
There you go.
That conversation you've just had there,
just a little bit of advice.
You know what we're like as men, women,
we sit there and we think
we know what you think, you know,
the answer.
You know,
I always used I gave up smoking
12 years ago.
I gave up smoking because I read a book.
I read the Alan Carr's Easy
Way to Stop Smoking on 28th of November,
12 years ago,
day after my wedding anniversary.
I'll put the book down
because I've finished it
and I've never touched another cigarette.
Simple as.
So as far as I'm concerned,
we all go around thinking
we know what the answers are.
You know, you're in their own headspace,
as your wife just put that.
But if you can then gather a
bit of knowledge from
somebody that says
something to you that goes,
I hadn't thought about that.
Suddenly it opens a door.
Suddenly you're moving forward.
Suddenly life starts to get better.
You know, and that's where we are.
Just getting people's lives
and making them better.
Hadn't thought of that or
hadn't thought of it that way.
I think that's the big one.
Yeah, definitely.
Rachel's just,
she's just put well-volunteered Chris.
But John, you know,
flicking over to you is that, you know,
as I said to Jeff there,
is that the synergy between you guys,
even more so now after, you know,
being part of this discussion,
it's just obvious, isn't it?
Yeah, definitely.
And again,
that's what attracted me to
obviously speak to Jeff and
find out more about what, you know,
what Best Mates is about,
because it's fantastic, again,
that people can have normal
conversations with those
who have been there, you know,
and maybe can offer some
things to support a person.
But, you know, again,
for somebody who might need
something a little bit deeper and
you know it's great that
then I'm aligned with best
mates because then I can be
that support you know that
next level because not
everybody needs
professional support yeah
but be able to kind of
offer that next layer um
you know kind of a
no-brainer I think when me
and jeff had the conversation
And I like it because,
especially us men are
probably the worst at this,
is that our best friends in
the real world might not be
perfect to go to because we're proud.
We're probably being stupid
and not doing them justice
because they would be there for us.
But you kind of go, no,
I can't go to them about
this or whatever.
But the biggest one is that
life gets in the way.
I used it in another context earlier,
is that
We're busy.
We're always busy.
And you go, well,
I can't trouble them
because they're busy.
Whereas if you're going to
this neutral mate,
it means you have the same
level of discussion from
someone that's experienced it.
And it's going to help you
to open the door to the
right sequence of thoughts.
Definitely.
I think sometimes we feel
we're going to burden those
closest to them by having a
conversation or we're going
to be judged or they're
going to have an opinion.
A lot of it's perception.
We can't have a conversation
with our friends because
they're our friends.
We go down the pub and we
just talk about happy stuff
no matter what.
Yeah.
Things are going on, you know.
But when you can kind of
hold a safe space.
somebody to actually tell
you exactly how they're
thinking and how they're
feeling and then be able to
support them on you know in
that level it's it's it's
life-changing and it truly
is life-changing as we know
you know we're three men on
the conversation here but
it saves saves people's lives
It does.
I mean, I saw Jim Carrey make a phrase,
you know,
said something that really
resonated with me, as we know,
is that my profession and
my personality is like, yay,
let's all have fun and let's entertain,
whether I'm on a mic or
just in a room with people.
And Jim Carrey's one was that.
True depression can be where
your brain just suddenly says,
screw off with this
caricature you've made me
portray to the world.
I cannot deal with this
caricature you've made me
portray to the world anymore.
And that means that it
almost becomes the tears of
a clown if you're not careful.
Whereas this mate that we
can be given gets rid of that.
Oh, but my best mate,
I've still got to be that smiley, happy,
strong, confident person.
You don't need to be anymore with them.
Exactly.
And even what I do for a for a profession,
you know, if if a client says to me,
how are you, John?
And I say, do you know what?
I'm actually a little bit rubbish today.
I've had it many times when
a client has said to me, hang on,
you you can't be rubbish.
You're helping.
You know, you're supposed to help all us.
You know,
and even I even I find it again as men.
You know, young children at home,
do you really want to go
home and burden your, you know,
if your day's rubbish on your children?
Because you just want to
kind of be this person that
you want other to perceive that you are,
you know...
Dad,
you don't want to be burdening on
children with how you're really feeling.
Same as your friends.
Do you really want to be burdened?
You know, I wear my heart on a sleeve.
I'm sure we all do, you know.
But for some, it really is a struggle.
That's why best mates, again,
putting somebody in a
situation who's been in a situation,
you know, that stigma,
there is no stigma.
Because you are being
matched with somebody who
might not know exactly how you're feeling,
but they have definite
evidence through their own experience.
And there's a massive power in that.
Yeah, they're very close.
And that's why, you know, Jeff,
we're really just sort of
backing up where you opened
up this conversation about
your own challenges that you went to.
Very personal insight there.
And it's kind of like, yeah,
the detail might be different,
but a lot of us go through something.
And this is where it really helps.
I mean,
hopefully that we did it justice in
the way we were discussing
it there as well.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, exactly that.
It's just opening those doors.
It's opening that mindset.
It's opening that room for improvement.
How do I get, where do I go?
How can this get better?
It can, you know,
don't care what you're going through.
Don't care who it is,
whatever your situation is,
it can get better.
You just need to be hooked
up with the right people.
that are prepared to have
those conversations and
help you to go and do what
you need to do.
And I think John said at the
beginning of his conversation,
you get up in the morning
and you have a choice.
You know, very difficult,
very difficult sometimes
depending what you're going
through to make the right
choice to turn the right head on.
But then when you've got
somebody alongside you that
understands that you can
reach out to and you see
it's physically made a difference,
it makes that whole process
that little bit easier.
And even if it's one step at a time,
you know, small steps,
but as long as those doors
are opening and you're
going in the right direction,
things are starting to get
a little bit better,
you'll start to feel it.
And that's what we're there to do.
And I'm going to put again up there,
bestmates.org, www.bestmates.org.
You'll be able to find out more.
Now, obviously,
that includes if people
want to reach out and they
need support themselves.
But equally, Geoff,
what about in terms of
supporting best mates?
What can people do and how?
Yeah, supporting best mates.
Yeah, I think, like you said,
getting the point across of
what we're trying to do is
the main thing.
But when it comes to supporting us and,
you know,
raising funds to help us to
achieve what we're setting out to do,
you know, if we're a new charity,
I hope this gets the
message across for who we are,
what we are and what we're trying to do.
If there's any interest out there from,
you know,
businesses or individuals that
want to raise funds to help us,
please do reach out.
Please do come and speak to us.
You'll see if you follow us
on our socials that we've
got a Tower to Tower event,
Tower of London to the Eiffel Tower.
We're all riding our bikes, including me,
to the Eiffel Tower on the 17th of June.
So there's fundraising out of that.
You're on the handlebars, Jeff,
aren't you?
I'm just taking handlebars.
I'm just going to sit on the
train and just video that.
You know,
we've got a parachute job going
on in April.
We've got an actual physical
launch to Best Mates,
which is going on in London,
which is in April.
We've got businesses,
which we've got a business,
One Vision Signs in Swindon.
They've put on a race night
for us at the county ground
this Saturday.
Friday.
You're going, John, aren't you?
You're there.
I've got your tickets here, actually.
Yeah, they're no good there, mate.
We need a mayor.
If businesses and people
want to raise funds and
help us and get involved more,
and as well as if you are a
person that's obviously
gone through something and
you feel that you would
personally benefit from
becoming a mate and helping people out,
again, come forward.
You know,
it's a little interview where we
just talk to you a little
bit in complete confidence.
We sign some forms to make
sure that the
confidentiality side of things is there.
And then as somebody comes forward,
we put it out to see who
wants to step forward and
speak to people.
Can I ask a question on that then, Jeff,
is what's the support
infrastructure for the mates?
So the support and structure for the mates,
we've got partners on board.
So it's a good question, actually,
because what we don't want
to do is have a mate come forward,
speak to somebody,
and it brings everything
back to life again.
And they sit there and start to suffer.
So we have got support
partners in place that should support
that happen,
then we've basically got the
services there to say, right, okay,
and they will receive that
counseling or whatever that might be.
Best Mates, again, obviously covers that.
So, yeah, it is very important.
And it's also very important
that when Mates come
forward that we select
the right mates as well you
know we're not just a hey
everybody come forward we
need you all we have to sit
down and do some vetting
and understanding because
um if you're not quite out
of that out and in that
strong position we don't
want to put you the wrong
wrong say don't want to put
the weaker people forward
yet until we know they're
ready for it so it's it's
it's very important and
it's it's um yeah you've
got to go very careful with it but
you will also get that feeling of,
you know, like I said earlier,
I get goosebumps just
talking about it because I
know that whatever happens,
that's another person's
life's changed because, you know,
making a difference.
It makes a difference.
Yeah, no, and I get that,
which is why I just wanted
to make sure if anybody was
there on the fence and just worried that,
you know, the support is there,
it's very important to know.
Rachel Weaver, yeah, she said,
I'm up for becoming a mate,
so get in touch, Rach.
We need to catch up, Rach.
Yeah, we'll sort that out.
Yeah,
I think that you'll make a blooming
good one, definitely there.
Geoff,
anything that I haven't asked you or
got you to say that you'd
like to say at this stage?
No, I think I've gone on.
I hope I got the message
across of what we are, who we are,
what we're trying to achieve, you know,
We do need everybody's help.
We do need people to come forward.
It can be quite overwhelming
at times because so many
people are interested.
But if there's any interest out there,
I think for me, for us at Bestmates,
we need people's help.
So if you want to help and
you can do things for us.
And also, the most important thing,
if you're out there and
you're going through a bit
of trouble at the moment,
get on the website, reach out to us,
drop us a little email.
Let's start to fix you.
Yep, absolutely.
Our catchphrase is, we got you.
And we have got you.
Come forward.
I love that.
We got you, I think,
is such a lovely phrase.
It sums it up brilliantly.
It kind of brings the
emotions up to the surface
on that at all.
John,
anything that you want to add about
Best Mates from your
perspective or have we covered it all?
No, just that, you know,
early on into their career,
if I can use that,
but making massive strides already.
And it's very,
very proud to have kind of
met Jeff and the team.
And, you know,
long may this journey continue, Jeff,
because you're doing
amazing things in its infancy,
let alone when everything
is kind of bigger, brighter,
bolder and stuff, you know, so amazing.
Just brilliant, brilliant.
Well,
thank you so much for joining us as well,
Jeff.
I do appreciate that,
and I hope this has helped.
Rachel said, awesome, guys, as well.
Thank you for everybody that has watched.
We could go on for so much longer,
but hopefully that has
given everyone a flavor.
It's been a very proud
episode of Visual PR Live,
obviously a Visual PR production.
And I thank people for
taking the time to be
watching this and participating.
Remember,
Visual PR is all about being in
control of how your
information is received and perceived.
And I think today's been a
great example of how we've
been able to do that with
everything from jail
mindset performance and
very much so from bestmates.org.
Reach out to both sides of
these guys if there's
anything that either of
them can do individually as a group,
whether that's a business,
an organisation,
a sporting team or anything like that.
There's a lot that can be
gained from both John and Jeff.
So, guys,
thank you so much for joining us
on this show.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
It's been an absolute
pleasure to get you both on.
Thank you, Chris.
That was brilliant, mate.
Thank you very, very much.
Yeah, thanks for the invite, Chris.
John,
thanks for bringing us on and letting
Chris know about us.
Really, really good.
Really, really impressed.
Thanks ever so much.
Thanks, guys.
Appreciate it.
Remember, you don't go anywhere.
Stay in the green room when
I drop you back there.
But from myself, Chris Dawes of Visual PR,
it's been a pleasure to
have your company.
We'll see you on next month's episode.
Cheers.
Bye-bye.
Bye.